Mounting block for fluid control valve

ABSTRACT

A mounting block for an hydraulic valve is a rectangular parallelepiped having pairs of ports in two opposed faces thereof, the ports of each pair being similarly disposed with respect to a reference plane. A third face of the block is provided with one or more arrays of ports, each array including two ports connected respectively with said channels and two further ports communicating by further channels with a pair of ports in a fourth face of the block. The further pair of ports are disposed with respect to a further plane, perpendicular to the reference plane, in the same disposition as the first pairs.

United States Patent Jeans et al.

[ 51 Aug. 1, 1972 [54] MOUNTING BLOCK FOR FLUID [21] Appl.No.: 40,268

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 3,076,473 2/1963 Wadey ..l37/271X 3,384,114 5/1968 Hathaway et a]. ..l37/561 X 3,391,703 7/1968 Kay..137/561 X 3,407,834 10/1968 Brandenberg ..137/271 3,516,436 6/1970Klaus et a1. ..137/608 X 3,556,144 1/1971 Bickers et al. 137/608 X3,561,469 2/1971 Kellstrom et a1 ..l37/608 X Primary Examiner-SamuelScott Attorney-Lawrence E. Laubscher 57 ABSTRACT- A mounting block foran hydraulic valve is a rectangular parallelepiped having pairs of portsin two opposed faces thereof, the ports of each pair being similarlydisposed with respect to a reference plane. A third face of the block isprovided with one or more arrays of ports, each array including twoports connected respectively with said channels and two further portscommunicating by further channels with a pair of ports in a fourth faceof the block. The further pair of ports are disposed with respect to afurther plane, perpendicular to the reference plane, in the samedisposition as the first pairs.

l0 Claim, 12 Drawing Figures mm H912 sum 2 or 5 INVENTORS ATTORNEYPATENTEHAus 1 I972 v 3.680.589

sum u or s Ml hae/ ,4. Isa n5 PPM/1k gab-165 INVENTOR5 kafiiw m ATTORNEYPATENTEDMJI;- 1 me SHEU 5 OF 5 Fig. /2

MOUNTING BLOCK FOR FLUID CONTROL VALVE This invention relates to fluidcontrol apparatus and in particular to mounting blocks suitable for themounting of fluid control valves.

Arrangements of mounting blocks for fluid control systems are alreadyknown, but such systems have suffered from the disadvantage that, whilethey permit the mounting of a plurality of control valves supplied bycommon inlet and outlet connections, they have not been readilyadaptable to permit the ready connection of inter-related control valveswith a minimum of pipework.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a mounting block foran hydraulic valve so constructed that a plurality of the blocks may besecured together to permit the interconnection of related valves of anhydraulic control system with a minimum of pipework.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mountingblock assembly for hydraulic control valves which enables associatedvalves to be hydraulically interconnected with a minimum of pipework.

In one embodiment of mounting blockaccording to the invention the blockhas two opposed parallel faces, each face having therein a pair of portsdisposed in a predetermined relation to a common reference plane. Theports in the two faces are connected by parallel channels within theblock.

Those features of the invention which are believed to be novel are setforth with particularity in the appended claims.

Further features and advantages of mounting blocks in accordance withthe invention will become apparent from the following description, takenin conjunction with the drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a unit mounting block;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the block of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the block of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken along the line 55 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a cross-section taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is an isometric representation of the manner in which twomounting blocks may be fitted together;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are two views in co-ordinate directions of an hydrauliccontrol apparatus using the assembly of two mounting blocks shown inFIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a pipe diagram showing the control effected by thearrangement of FIG. 9 and 10; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the mounting block of FIGS. 1-3.

The mounting block shown in FIGS. 1-7 is a unit block and may beextended in the direction of its length to form a unitary assemblyincluding a plurality of port arrangements of the kind now to bedescribed. The block shown is of rectangular and specificallycrosssquare section, though this is not essential to its function whichrequires only that it shall have a plurality of planar faces of whichtwo are parallel.

The block 1 shown has in its end face 101 shown in FIG. 3 a pair ofports 2 and 3 which are disposed in a predetermined relation to areference plane parallel to the length of the block and indicated bychain-line 4. Similar ports are provided in the opposed end 102 of theblock and the ports are connected by channels or conduits 2a and 3acontained within the block. Conveniently, though not necessarily, theports and channels are formed by drilling through the block, thoughother methods of hole formation may be used to produce the channels whendesired. Associated with ports 2, 3 is a plurality of fastening holes.In the embodiment illustrated four screw-threaded holes 5, 6, 7 and 8are disposed symmetrically with respect to the ports 2, 3. An additionalport 9 may be provided extending through the length of the block toaccommodate electrical leads for valve control purposes.

In the third face 103 of the block shown in FIG. 1 are provided fourports 10, ll, 12 and 13 which are disposed in a standard J.I.C. array,and are accompanied by appropriately spaced fixing holes 14 and alocating hole 15. The inlet and outlet ports 10 and 11 communicate withthe conduits 21 and 3a of ports 2 and 3 via a first pair of internalconduits 10a and 110, respectively, as seen in FIG. 4 and 6, while thecontrolled ports 12 and 13 communicate via a second pair of conduits 12aand 130, respectively with a further pair of ports 16 and 17 which areprovided in a fourth face 104 of the block and are disposed in the samepredetermined relation to a plane, represented by chain line 18, whichis perpendicular to the reference plane 4, as the relation of ports 2, 3to the reference plane. Ports l6 and 17 are provided with screw threadsfor the fastening thereto of external pipes.

Associated with ports 16, 17 is an array of four fixing holes 19, 20, 21and 22 disposed symmetrically with reference to ports 16, 17 and spacedsimilarly to holes 5-8 of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 7, these fixing holespass through the thickness of the block. In this manner it is madepossible to secure a transfer block to the block shown, so that theinlet and outlet ports of the added block communicate with thecontrolled ports of the first. Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 8,where a transfer block 30 is shown with its inlet and outlet ports 31,32 aligned with the controlled ports 33, 34 of a three-unit block 35. Inthis manner a fluid circuit may be controlled by the series combinationof a valve fitted to block 35 at position A, a valve 39 fitted totransfer block 30 at position B and a further valve at position C. Thetwo blocks will be held together by fixing bolts such as 36, 37 passingthrough holes in blocks 35 and 30 and engaging in screw-threaded holesin the proximate face of valve 39.

Transfer block 30 covers two sets of ports on the third face of block35, the ports 33, 34 controlled by a valve mounted in position A andfurther ports at D which are blanked by a cover plate E. A diagonaltransfer channel 32a within block 30 couples port 34 of block 35 withport 34a of the transfer block, whereas port 31 of the transfer blockpasses directly through the block.

A control system employing a similar assembly is shown in FIGS. 9, 10and 11. A block 45 carries three control valves 46, 47 and 48 while anintermediate valve position is blanked by a cover plate 49 sealing theports therein. A transfer block 50 coupled to the ports controlled byvalve 47 carries two sequence valves 51 and 52. Pump and tank pipes 53,54 are connected by way of a relief valve 55 to the ports of block 45which are controlled by valve 46. A further tank pipe 54a is connectedto one of the manifold ports of block 45, of which the other end isclosed by a plug 54b. The second manifold port is closed at both ends byplugs 56, 57. The controlled ports of sequence valve 51 are connected byway of pipes 60, 61 to a punch actuating cylinder 62, while thecontrolled ports of sequence valve 52 are connected by way of pipes 63,64 to a clamp actuating cylinder 65. The ports on block 45 which arecontrolled by valve 48 are connected by way of pipes 66, 67 with acylinder 68 arranged to actuate a transfer mechanism.

The arrangement shown may be varied by disposing a further mountingblock in place of either of sequence valves 51, 52, so that furtherelectromagnetically actuated valves may be coupled in sequence withvalve 47. It will be understood that valves other than the simpleelectromagnetically actuated spool valves illustrated may be used inconjunction with a mounting block or an assembly of mounting andtransfer blocks according to the invention to construct control systemsof considerable complexity, without the necessity than a minimum ofpipework.

Most types of control valve are preferably mounted with the spindle axeshorizontal, and it will be seen that as assembly of mounting blocksaccording to the invention permits large numbers of interconnectedvalves to be mounted in this position without the necessity for usingadaptor members of any kind. What I claim is: 1. A said mounting BLOCKfor an hydraulic control valve, said block having first (101) and second(102) parallel opposed planar faces, and third (103) and fourth (104)planar faces normal to each other and to said first and second faces,respectively,

each of said first (101) and second (102) faces containing a pair ofports (2,3), the ports in each of said pair of ports being disposed inthe same predetermined relation relative to each other and to a commonreference plane (4) perpendicular to said faces; said third face (103)containing an array of four ports (10, 11, 12 and 13);

said fourth face (104) containing a further pair of ports (16, 17disposed in said predetermined relation relative to each other and to afurther plane (18) perpendicular to said reference plane and to saidfourth face;

said block containing therein a pair of parallel conduits (2a, 3a)connecting the ports of said first face with corresponding ports to saidsecond face, respectively, said block also containing a first pair ofinternal conduits (a, 11a) connecting said parallel conduits with two ofthe ports 10, 11) of for more the array of said third face,respectively, and a secondpair of internal conduits (12a, 13a)connecting the other two ports (12, 13) of said array with said furtherpair of ports 16, 17), contained in said fourth face, respectively,whereby a pair of said mounting blocks may be connected with the fourthface of one block abutted against either the of he ot r bloc 2. The.invention define by c aim 1, 251111161 characterized in that said blockincludes a plurality of bores extending through said block perpendicularto said third face thereof.

3. The invention defined by claim 1, further characterized by having theform 'of a rectangular parallelepiped.

4. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein said array of ports in saidthird face includes a fifth port communicating with an additionalchannel ,in said block, said additional channel extending between saidopposed faces of said block parallel to said parallel channels therein.

5. The invention defined by claim 1, further characterized by aplurality of screw-threaded holes in each of said opposed faces, saidholes being symmetrically disposed with respect to said two ports insaid face.

6. The invention defined by claim 5, further characterized by a closureplate secured to one of said opposed faces by screws engaged in saidscrew-threaded holes.

- 7. The invention defined by claim 1, further characterized by aplurality of said arrays on said third'face thereof.

first or second fac 8. A mounting assembly for a plurality of hydraulicand means mounting said transfer block on said third face of saidmounting block with each of said sets of ports aligned with one of saidarrays of ports on said third face.

9. The invention defined by claim 7, further characterized by each saidarray of ports in said third face including a respective fifth port, allsaid fifth ports communicating with a common additional channel in saidblock, said additional channel extending between said opposed faces ofsaid block parallel to said parallel channels therein. I

10. An assembly in accordance with claim 9 wherein each of said blocksis connected to another of said blocks by means of bolts passing throughsaid bores in one of said blocks.

1. A said mounting BLOCK for an hydraulic control valve, said blockhaving first (101) and second (102) parallel opposed planar faces, andthird (103) and fourth (104) planar faces normal to each other and tosaid first and second faces, respectively, each of said first (101) andsecond (102) faces containing a pair of ports (2,3), the ports in eachof said pair of ports being disposed in the same predetermined relationrelative to each other and to a common reference plane (4) perpendicularto said faces; said third face (103) containing an array of four ports(10, 11, 12 and 13); said fourth face (104) containing a further pair ofports (16, 17) disposed in said predetermined relation relative to eachother and to a further plane (18) perpendicular to said reference planeand to said fourth face; said block containing therein a pair ofparallel conduits (2a, 3a) connecting the ports of said first face withcorresponding ports to said second face, respectively, said block alsocontaining a first pair of internal conduits (10a, 11a) connecting saidparallel conduits with two of the ports (10, 11) of the array of saidthird face, respectively, and a second pair of internal conduits (12a,13a) connecting the other two ports (12, 13) of said array with saidfurther pair of ports (16, 17), contained in said fourth face,respectively, whereby a pair of said mounting blocks may be connectedwith the fourth face of one block abutted against either the first orsecond face of the other block.
 2. The invention defined by claim 1,further characterized in that said block includes a plurality of boresextending through said block perpendicular to said third face thereof.3. The invention defined by claim 1, further characterized by having theform of a rectangular parallelepiped.
 4. The invention defined by claim1, wherein said array of ports in said third face includes a fifth portcommunicating with an additional channel in said block, said additionalchannel extending between said opposed faces of said block parallel tosaid parallel channels therein.
 5. The invention defined by claim 1,further characterized by a plurality of screw-threaded holes in each ofsaid opposed faces, said holes being symmetrically disposed with respectto said two ports in said face.
 6. The invention defined by claim 5,further characterized by a closure plate sEcured to one of said opposedfaces by screws engaged in said screw-threaded holes.
 7. The inventiondefined by claim 1, further characterized by a plurality of said arrayson said third face thereof.
 8. A mounting assembly for a plurality ofhydraulic control valves comprising the combination of: a first mountingblock in accordance with claim 7; a transfer block having parallelfaces, with a plurality of sets of valve mounting ports extendingbetween said faces, and a channel within said transfer block connectinga port in one of said sets with a port in another said set; and meansmounting said transfer block on said third face of said mounting blockwith each of said sets of ports aligned with one of said arrays of portson said third face.
 9. The invention defined by claim 7, furthercharacterized by each said array of ports in said third face including arespective fifth port, all said fifth ports communicating with a commonadditional channel in said block, said additional channel extendingbetween said opposed faces of said block parallel to said parallelchannels therein.
 10. An assembly in accordance with claim 9 whereineach of said blocks is connected to another of said blocks by means ofbolts passing through said bores in one of said blocks.